I haven’t written about Supernova much lately. It’s likely due to the fact that I haven’t played it much either. This, however, is because the prototype is off getting all fancified. And by ‘fancified’, I mean done up right and proper by Mike Doyle. I feel simultaneously excited, nervous and scared about it, kind of like how many feel just before opening the door when set up on a blind date. That being said, I know it’s going to turn out fantastically. Mike puts so much time and effort into the details of his creations, I simply can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

On with the Questions and Answers!

What is the point of the game? How does it play?

Well, the point of the game is to become the galactic grand poobah (my term). That, and to lay the smack down on your friends. This, of course, differs from what the rules say, but I have to be more ‘professional’ in the rules. As for how it plays, if you haven’t already read the rules, I’ll summarize.

Each player represents a space-faring civilization, attempting to colonize new worlds and expand their influence across the galaxy when they learn their co-habited solar system is about to be blown to smithereens by the upcoming supernova of their Sun. You lay tiles onto the board each turn, each of which represents your influence in that region of space. The more space that you have influence over at the end of the game, the more points you get. The civilization (player) with the most points wins and becomes the aforementioned poobah. Ahhh, but it’s not that simple. Over the course of the game, you may spend some money to increase your technologies. You can boost Shields or Weapons to intimidate and/or blast your opponents, or you can raise your Engines or Comms, with which you can expand faster or hold more Battle Cards, respectively. What’s this about Battle cards? Oh, right. Anytime you want to take a spot on the board which one of your friends have already taken (or vice versa), you have to fight over it (the more smack talk, the better). For this, you use Battle Cards. You may use them in a variety of combinations to try to win the Battle. You then take into account each player’s level of Weapons/Shields and the height of their stack of tiles to determine the winner. Planets and Moons are valuable as they convey extra points during and at the end of the game while also providing a bonus and income (respectively).

So what’s fun about that? Why should I look at this game instead of Nexus Ops or Twilight Imperium? How is this different?

Well, I haven’t played Twilight Imperium, but I have played Nexus Ops. Nexus Ops (from now on referred to as “NO”) is pretty cool cause it has little smelly alien guys that kinda look like gummi candies. Nice. The thing about NO is that although you get some pretty nice miniatures, you don’t every really get the feeling that you are expanding and growing an empire. Supernova gives you that feeling, at least to a degree. Plus, when you take control of a solar flare and obliterate 4 of your friend’s tiles, well… that’s just cool. I really like how the choices you AND your opponent’s make in Supernova changes the dynamic of the game. If my opponents all start to boost their engines in lieu of other techs, I might want to do the same. Or, I can increase my Weapons to take out their planets as they have less shields to defend with. If I decide instead to spend my money on Research (cards), it can give me more options on my turn. I could also change tactics within the course of a game, which is always a good plan. Often, you may want to be aggressive early to get the points for a planet and as many moons as you can hold onto at the end of the first Phase. Then rest on your laurels and build up your resources a bit until the third phase when you again go hard at a planet for final scoring.

As for how Supernova compares to TI, well, it’s shorter. That’s about all I can tell you about that.

What are some of the different Research cards you can buy?

There are 20 different Research cards in the game, and there are 2 of each for a total of 40 cards. The following is a selection of those cards.

Teleportation – Trade places with one of an opponent’s tiles, up to two hexes away from your own. The opponent’s tile must be of equal height or lower.

Call for Reinforcements – Fortify any two of your tiles with tiles from your reserves.

Fleet Academy Recruits – Draw 4 Battle Cards. Choose up to 2 cards to keep. Discard the same amount of cards from your hand.

Battlestations – Increase your Battle Hand by one card until the end of this turn. If unused, the card must be discarded.

Surface Eruption – Add 1 to the distance of a Solar Flare that you have won control of. You must display this card upon winning the bid.

Space Vacuum – Remove one tile from the bottom of any stack of tiles. This MAY be used to remove a single tile.

Lunar Acceleration – Move a moon one space forward or back in its current orbit, maintaining its current direction.

Research cards are designed to give you a few extra options. They aren’t excessively powerful, nor were they designed with ‘take that’ play in mind. There is some of that, but for the most part, I tried to make them be more about helping yourself than drastically harming your opponents. This keeps the game from changing so much between turns that there is zero planning involved. That being said, the game changes enough that Supernova is definitely a tactical game, not a strategic one.

Who would like this game? What type of game is it?

Although I think the debate between Euro and American styled games is a bit overboard, if I must qualify Supernova within those boundaries, here’s my consensus: it’s a bit of both. Don’t call me a fence-sitter too quickly. It really is. There is some very ‘euro-esque’ resource management and decision-making involved. However, the game quickly becomes about conflict as you try to expand within the boundaries that your friends/opponents are confining you to. If you’re looking for a ‘why can’t we all get along?’, no-conflict euro, this isn’t your game. Well, I suppose it could be, but MAN is it ever dull when people aren’t attacking each other. That doesn’t mean it’s entirely a bash-the-leader kingmaker game either. There is a certain amount of that, but mostly to just keep the obvious leader from running away with the game. But the thing is, the leader isn’t always obvious… unless you spend the downtime counting people’s tiles on the board. But how much fun is that?? Supernova is at it’s best when you and some friends want a game to play while having a bevvie and snacks and want something that gives you some interesting decisions as well as some conflict and a bit of nastiness. It’s fun, pretty lightweight, and aimed at that gamer who has likely grown up on Risk and is starting to explore the broader world of boardgames.

What about theme!?! I know it’s about these races and an exploding sun, but give me CHROME!! (see: chrome)

Gotcha. We’re working on that. As you read, there is a published author working on the backstory for the game. It will be available (most likely) as a downloadable PDF from the official site once the game is released. There will also be much more theme-related flavor text both in the rules and on the research/civilization/desperation cards than there is now. Have no fear, it will make you feel space-faring and galac-tastic.

Thanks for reading. I hope I’ve helped answer some questions about Supernova. If you have more, post here or feel free to geekmail me. I always enjoy chatting about Supernova.